Chikkajala Hanuman Temple, Karnataka

Address

Chikkajala Hanuman Temple, NH 44, Chikkajala, Bengaluru, Karnataka 562157

Diety

Hanuman

Introduction

Chikkajala Fort is about 38 mins (26km) from Bengaluru, located just off the national highway as you drive to the airport, and just 15 minutes (10km) from Kempegowda International airport. This old temple is located inside the fort. Even ‘3000 years old’, Chikkajala ‘fort’ consists of a circular walled compound with a large pond or ‘kalyani’ in the centre. On the eastern side of the pond is a small Hanuman temple with stucco decorations in the 19th century Mysore style. To the south and east of the pond are two large pillared halls, Both the halls and the passage are built of stone. Archaeologist Tathagata Neogi is of the opinion that this was never a fort, but simply a walled temple complex. The lack of bastions and the fact that the walls are simply not thick enough to withstand cannon-fire, make it unviable for defensive purposes. There are also many intriguing inconsistencies in the complex. The pillars in both the halls are in a pre-Islamic style, but the temple is considerably more modern. Compared to the rest of the compound the temple is also much smaller, which indicates that there was once a larger temple, which may have collapsed and was replaced by this smaller one. The two halls may have been intended to accomm pilgrims. However, to the south of the compound, there is a small door in the wall and adjacent to the wall there appear to be two Muslim tombs.

Puranic Significance

history says the fort walls were built during Tipu Sultan ‘s time (1750-1799) and they resemble the stone walls of the moat at Tipu’s mysterious carvings on the steps leading down the stepwell from the temple. A fish. Then a turtle. A scorpion! An unidentifiable symbol… This was Chikkajala Fort, and the old temple, whose origins date back nearly 3,000 years, an estimation by the Archeological Survey of India (ASI). The structure is what remains after the government’s jaded apathy gave it up for demolition, to make way for Benglauru’s high-speed highway to the airport over 9 years ago. Vanished is the beautiful entrance to the fort, now only seen in a few pictures on the web. How had Tipu and his men not destroyed this,. Were they so focused on trying to find vantage points on the roof of those dormitories to shoot down advancing British soldiers? I marvelled that even our current day vandals seem to have spared this site! India’s stunning aesthetics are clearly only found in the profusely carved, scattered relics adorning our temples, forts and ruins.